It seemed like a good idea at the time. My prescription was ready, so without realizing what the date was, I went to pick it up. Not the smartest decision I've ever made!
First clue: parking was a nightmare! Then the Salvation Army bell ringer with the Santa hat jolted me back to reality. It was December 24th---Christmas Eve---and that put an end to my plan of 'just going to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things and get back home quickly'.
The aisles were full of shoppers. Everywhere you turned, there was a cart or a body. Traffic jam in every aisle. The lines to checkout had about 8 over-loaded carts at each register...and I believe there were more than 20 open registers at this location.
This location also had a grocery store inside...so I picked up my Rx and then headed for a few food items I needed.
Then something familiar hit me. I memory I had thought of while in Israel. In the USA, at least in non Orthodox areas, Americans pretty much have no concept of Shabbat. It's a 24/7 society here. It's so different in Israel. It's so much easier to be Jewish in Israel. Everyone there GETS IT. Some Jews may be secular, but the country as a whole, pretty much closes up shop every Friday afternoon in preparation for Shabbat. It's the norm. It's the Rule, not the exception to the Rule.
Early on in my reality show life, Israel for Dummies, I HAD made the comparison that I was now experiencing in the Wal-Mart: The only parallel I could draw to explain Fridays in Israel to my Jew and Gentile friends, would be for them to picture Christmas Eve in the USA. Heads would nod. Ok, they got the picture. Last minute dash to the store for whatever. Food. Wine. Challah. Flowers. Perhaps a gift.
The stores I went to on Fridays were sometimes a free for all. There's always a few who do a little pushing or shoving. (Albeit somewhat gentler than the other days of the week!) Everyone had to get what they needed before the stores closed and didn't re-open until Sunday. But at least on Fridays, if you got bumped in the store, it was the one day that you *might* hear "Shabbat Shalom" instead of the rarely uttered 'excuse me/slichah'.
So in the USA, Christmas Eve with it's hustle and bustle only happens once a year. In Israel, that sort of frenzy happens each and every Friday. It's palpable excitement in anticipation for Shabbat. Then as quickly as it all starts, it ceases. Darkness falls and we enter in Shabbat. Every week we get to experience the beauty of the Day. It even seems that the whole natural world knows that it's the Sabbath. The children sleep in later. You hear the birds sweetly chirping away. The calm in the air is so relaxing. There is no sound of industry assaulting your ears. It's profound peacefulness, a spiritual feeling you cannot escape. Nor would you want to!! You must experience it! Perhaps it will change your life too, the way it did mine!
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